Chart of the day: How Apple overtook Samsung - for now

Apple investors have waited a long time to see a chart like the one above, drawn by Creative Strategies’s Ben Bajarin from smartphone sell-through data provided by CounterPoint Research’s Neil Shah.

Both Shah and Bajarin expect Samsung’s shipments will be back on top next quarter. But it almost doesn’t matter. The millions of jumbo iPhones that Apple cranked out last quarter took the wind right out of Samsung’s phablet sales.

Or, for those who prefer more apocalyptic metaphors, here’s AppleInsider’s Thursday headline: Apple Inc’s thermonuclear assault on Samsung vaporizes Android’s remaining profit pillar.

“After years of failing to do much more than embarrass Samsung Electronics in legal battles over patent infringement,” wrote Daniel Eran Dilger, with evident glee, “Apple has rapidly obliterated Samsung’s mobile division profitability, rendering it as barrenly unprofitable as every other Android or Windows licensee with razor thin margins in the phone, PC and tablet market.”

CounterPoint’s stats:

Click to enlarge.

Apple posted an all-time record for both revenue and sales for iPhone with shipments at 74.5Mn during the quarter, a Y-o-Y increase of 46.1%.
As a result it has become the No. 1 smartphone vendor and No. 2 Handset vendor first time ever in a single quarter.
Apple’s overall handset market climbed to 14.8% and the smartphone market share climbed to 20.2% during 4Q 2014
Apple has raised the bar so high with record iPhone sales, ASP and profits that not even the next five brands combined could achieve this.
iPhone 6 & 6 Plus dual flagship move with elimination of 32GB SKU has allowed Apple’s iPhone ASP to shoot up to an all-time-high of $687
Regionally, Apple recorded tremendous growth in key markets such as China, India, Brazil, Korea, Japan with leading position in USA.